Millions of people are traveling down life’s highway with no road map, no progress, no joy. Isaiah tells of a road. He said: “A highway will be there, a roadway, and it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, but it will be for the one who walks that way, and fools will not wander on it” (Isaiah 35:8, NASB).
That’s what the Scripture says. Only a few times in the Bible does God call a man a fool. And God says if you’re not on the highway that leads to everlasting life, you’re a fool.
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The Bible uses the symbol of a highway in speaking of God’s salvation. Life is often compared to a journey. The ancient Greek poet Homer wrote the “Odyssey,” an epic poem telling the story of a long journey. “Pilgrim’s Progress,” probably the most famous Christian book outside the Bible, is the story of a journey. “Lead me in the way everlasting,” the psalmist said (Psalm 139:24). What he is saying is, “Lead me down the road that leads to everlasting life.” And the whole meaning of the Christian faith is expressed in four words that Jesus said: “I am the way” (John 14:6). Jesus is the road, the highway, that leads to the Father.
The earliest Christians were known as people of the Way. Saul of Tarsus was persecuting the people called the people of the Way. We’re told that he was going to Damascus, and if he found “any who were of the Way” (Acts 9:2), he would arrest them and bring them back to Jerusalem.
We’re all on a road, a highway. It’s a journey of life. And we need guidance. Everywhere you look in newspapers, in magazines, on television, you see people searching for guidance—guidance in relationships, guidance in social problems, guidance in political problems, home problems, financial problems. We are looking for a map, and we have one. That map is the Bible—the Word of the living God.
Jesus said there are two roads in life—a broad road and a narrow road (Matthew 7:13-14). He said the narrow road leads to eternal life, but the broad road leads to destruction. Thank God that there is a road, a path, that takes us through the bewilderments and the problems and the mysteries of life, as we find them surrounding us and pressing us from every part.
God has provided a great highway of salvation. How can I find this highway? How can I find this road? How can I find this path that leads to eternal life? Deep down inside, is that your prayer? Maybe you’d never express it to your husband, to your wife or to your friend. But when you are alone, when you think about life and death, when you think about all the problems that are pressing in, do you ask yourself, “What must I do to be saved? How can I find that path? How can I find that road? How can I find the highway that leads to eternal life?”
The great highway of God was built by a cross. It was built when Jesus Christ hung on the cross and died for our sins. That’s where Christ shed His blood and died for us. And then God raised Him from the dead. The death, burial and resurrection of Christ is called the Gospel—the Good News that God has prepared a highway. He has prepared a way out of this morass in which we find ourselves.
There is a highway. There is a road that you can get on. “I am the way,” Jesus said in John 14:6.
Some years ago, they were building a new highway in the area where I live, in the mountains of North Carolina. We watched it being built when we were home. And they had to tear down some homes, and many patterns of life had to be changed.
Some might say that building a highway like that is destructive and disturbing and expensive, but there is no other way.
And God’s highway also means changing many things in your life. But in the end, the change will be good and constructive. It will work for the good of yourself, your family, your home, your neighbors, your friends, your nation—and for your eternal destiny.
Are you on God’s highway? Have you entered it? The entrance, Jesus said, is narrow. And then He said, “There are few who find it” (Matthew 7:14). Few! There are a lot of people who profess Christ. There are a lot of people who go to church. There are a lot of people who are baptized. But to find true life in Christ, under the Lordship of Christ, He says that few will find it.
Thousands of people followed Jesus when He was popular. But when He started toward the cross and told them that He was going to die and that each one would have to deny self and take up the cross and follow Him, many of them went away. When He was at the cross, only a handful were there. “There are few who find it.” Are you on the narrow road that leads to eternal life? Are you on the highway to Heaven?
Yes, there’s a road, a way you can take. It’s a plain road; you’re not left in darkness, blindly floundering. But you have to come through a narrow gate: the gate of humility, the gate of repentance, the gate of faith. You have to be willing to come through the narrow gate. It may be difficult for you. It may mean changing many of the plans in your life. Are you willing to pay the price that God asks?
Jesus said, “There are few who find it.” Why? Because they are not willing to pay the price, to meet the conditions, the moral demands of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The president of France once said, “The world is unhappy. It is unhappy because it doesn’t know where it is going, and because it senses that if it knew, it would discover that it was heading for disaster.”
In other words, the world is lost. We tend to think we’re too big to get lost: America couldn’t be lost, we think. We’re too big. We’re too strong. We’re too rich. But I fear that we’ve lost our way morally. We’re on the wrong road.
And you, in your life, may be lost. Your soul, your mind, your heart—you’re lost. You’re stumbling along, blind, and you need help. That’s where Christ comes in. That’s where the Gospel comes in. Jesus has come to put you on the right road.
My wife was born and reared in China, and she used to tell me about some of the roads they had there. They would have a sign and, translated, it would say, “Choose your road carefully. You may be on it for the next 20 miles.”
And you’re to choose your road in life carefully. You can find the entrance to God’s Highway. But will you go through it? That’s up to you. God has provided the door: “I am the way,” Jesus said. But will you go in?
It will cost you. It will cost you your sins because you must be willing to confess your sins and turn from them.
But this road of salvation that God has provided is a safe way. You can trust it. The Bible says, “No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it; it shall not be found there. But the redeemed shall walk there” (Isaiah 35:9).
I heard a story about an American aviator who had to parachute into a jungle in Burma. A Burmese man came along, slashing his way through with his machete, trying to get the American airman out. The American was scared to death, afraid he was going to be captured by guerrillas. And he yelled out, “Where is the way? Where is the road?” And the Burmese man, in broken English, turned to him and said, “I’m the way. Follow me.” And he got him out.
Jesus said, “I am the way. Follow me. I’m the road. I’m the highway. There is no other road, no other way. I’m it.”
Finally, it’s a holy way. “It shall be called the Highway of Holiness,” (Isaiah 35:8). And the Bible says, “Without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Cf. Hebrews 12:14).
What does holiness mean? It means that you yield yourself. “Present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God,” Paul said in Romans 6:13.
God has constructed this highway, and no unholy thing can be on it. Where do you get holiness? It’s imputed to you by Christ the moment you receive Christ. God looks at you as though you have never sinned. You’re justified in His sight, clothed in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I’m asking you to go through that narrow gate by faith. What do you have to do? Be willing to repent of your sins. That means that you’re willing to say, “I give up my sins. I’m ready to change my way of living.” And then by faith receive Jesus Christ into your heart. Be sure today that you are on the road that leads to eternal life. ©1976 BGEA
Unless otherwise specified, Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version. The Scripture quotation marked NASB is taken from The New American Standard Bible.
Enter Through the Narrow Gate
Jesus Christ is that Gate. He is the only way to Heaven. How do you enter this Gate? First, confess your sin and turn away from it. Second, receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, putting your faith in Him alone to save you. You can do that right now. He promises to live in you and transform your life. You can have a new life, a new beginning, if you will surrender to Christ.
START BY SIMPLY TALKING TO GOD.
You can pray a prayer like this:
“Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. I’m sorry for my sin. I want to turn from my sin. Please forgive me. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son; I believe He died on the cross for my sin and You raised Him to life. I want Him to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want to trust Jesus as my Savior and follow Him as my Lord from this day forward. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”
DO IT RIGHT NOW.
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Photo: Russ Busby/©1976 BGEA
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